Tuesday, 11 October 2011

Vincents and Velocettes at the Ace Cafe

A few of us were meant to go to to the Brightona bike meeting, but our plans were spoiled by the uncooperative weather. Early Sunday morning saw heavy rain and we just didn't feel like starting out on a 100+ mile journey when it was raining cats and dogs.

My friend Alex was keen however to get some miles put on his brand-new BMWK1600GT which was just a week old. We decided therefore to ride down to the Ace Cafe where the was a Vincent and Velocette day being held, and then on to the London Motorcycle Museum.

Waiting until the rain had passed, we set out on wet roads, with Both of us being careful - Alex was riding his new bike for the first time in the wet and I was on my red custom bike, which is not the best bike to ride on wet roads!

I did like the look of Alex's new bike....

We used both fast roads and slow, given the bikes a good workout in different conditions. The BMW was a class act at speed and obviously handled very well. It is a wide bike to ride in traffic though and lane-splitting the stationary vehicles!

Like most bikers, I love looking at old bikes, especially those that are in excellent condition. There were a few examples of great-looking Vincents and Velocettes sitting in front of the Ace....

This Vincent was a dream bike....

Beautiful engineering on the Vincent....

What a lovely pair....

And for the sidecar fans, you can drool over this.... Wouldn't it be wonderful riding this on winding country roads....

12 comments:

I think most of us would agree, Old bikes are a work of art in themselves. Those BMW's sure are big bikes, there was one in the show room when I was buying my GS, most impressive. Syill noty sure how they would be on our tight narrow and twisty bumpy roads.....pewrhaps one day I will give it a go!

Roger – I could stand and look at old bikes all day. Yes to the BMW tourer being big. My friend Paul has one as well and he didn’t seem to have too much trouble on the twisty roads when we rode together in Spain.

mq01- I agree, they are no doubt very good for touring, but I just wish they had a bit more character. Efficient and brilliant engineering, yes, but dare I sat it, also a little boring...?

Geoff – I am 100% with you on the Cobra! I can see why you were envious of the Thruxton Velocette.

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What is this blog about?

This blog was originally started to record a five month, 21000 mile tour of the US on my Harley-Davidson. I continue to use this blog to record my own motorcycling adventures, wherever they may be, along with my thoughts and opinions about motorcycling generally.

About Me

Having devoted most of my adult life to being a ‘company man’, the transition to the next phase of my life away from the construction industry was always going to include some challenges. Planning and then making my dream trip to explore America on my Harley-Davidson proved to be the ideal vehicle for clearing my mind of old ways of thinking and being. I rode 21,475 miles, in 27 US states in four-and-a-half months.
My motorcycling trips have continued, with journeys across much of Europe, New Zealand, North Africa and Cuba.
A few years ago, I set up and now run Tour1, which takes riders on Harley-Davidson Authorised tours across Europe. See www.tour1.co.uk.
I live just north of London in the UK.

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US Tour - My Favourites Places I Went To....

It is difficult to choose, but here is my list of the highlights of my US tour, in the order I saw them in....